Brecht held for court on 171 sex charges

December 19, 2013

A Pine Grove Township man accused of 171 charges of sexual abuse of two victims from 2003 to 2010 entered a not guilty plea during a preliminary arraignment Wednesday morning before District Justice Cynthia Lindemuth.

Daniel Lynn Brecht, 62, Priest Hollow Road, will remain in the Warren County Jail on $100,000 bail. A formal arraignment has been scheduled for Jan. 9, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

Brecht was arrested in October after an investigation into him "assaulting a known female between the ages of 11 and 18, between 2003 and early 2010," Warren-based state police said.

In that case, Brecht is charged with 39 counts of corruption of minors, 37 counts of indecent assault forcible compulsion, 21 counts of aggravated indecent assault forcible compulsion, 20 counts of indecent assault (victim under 16 years of age), 14 counts of rape forcible compulsion, 14 counts of sexual assault, 10 counts of statutory sexual assault (victim under the age of 11), six counts of indecent assault (victim under the age of 13) and aggravated indecent assault of a child.

The victim told the court that weapons were present during the alleged assaults and Brecht had threatened the victim.

"I never want him to have the chance to hurt another person like he hurt me," the victim told the court in response to a question from Brecht's lawyer, Bernard T. Hessley.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Todd Koebley testified that Brecht stated over the course of a 30-minute interview he had touched the victim but the victim had enticed him.

In a parallel case, Brecht was also charged for assaulting another victim between the ages of 10 and 12 during the same time span.

In that case, Brecht is charged with two counts of indecent assault (victim under 13 years of age) and indecent assault without consent.

The victim in that case told the court Brecht had a gun holstered on his hip during one of the alleged incidents.